by By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY Sports

by By Jon Saraceno, USA TODAY Sports

In what now almost seems like a quaint era of pro football - it was 1983, when The Big Chill and big hair ruled the day - a rookie threesome of future superstar quarterbacks emerged. From a single draft class came three men who eventually formed a mini-Mount Rushmore of a new generation of passers. They were named Elway, Marino and Kelly.

This season, with startling precociousness and productivity, rookie quarterbacks Robert Griffin III, 22, of the Washington Redskins, Andrew Luck, 23, of the Indianapolis Colts and Russell Wilson, 24, of the Seattle Seahawks have carved their likenesses into the NFL. Whether further chiseling leads to football immortality remains to be seen, but thus far they have carved a granite-like impression.

The quarterback class of '83 is regarded as the finest to materialize from a single draft. It also included Todd Blackledge, Tony Eason and Ken O'Brien. Of course, it was Kelly, John Elway and Dan Marino who did the heavy lifting. They combined for 11 Super Bowl appearances (two victories, both by Elway); 22 Pro Bowls; two league MVP trophies; and three bronze busts in Canton, Ohio.

The class of '12 includes a record eight rookie signal-callers who have started and won at least one game. The upper crust has earned high marks when it comes to being a quick-study group because it has executed its lessons with aplomb. Rookie passing records are falling like snowflakes, including Luck's 433-yard effort vs. the Miami Dolphins last month.

Significantly, Luck, Griffin and Wilson have their teams on the verge of making the playoffs after dreadful 2011 seasons that produced a combined 14-34 record. If the trio advances in January - and the Colts (9-5), Redskins (8-6) and Seahawks (9-5) can clinch berths on Sunday - it would establish a record number of NFL teams featuring rookie starters at the position.

From '83, only Marino was able to propel the Dolphins into the playoffs. As a rookie, Elway completed 47.5% of his passes, including seven touchdowns and 14 interceptions. Kelly, drafted by the Bills, opted for the USFL and didn't join the NFL until 1986 at age 26.

The deep '12 class also is bolstered by the rapid emergence of quarterbacks Ryan Tannehill of the Dolphins, Brandon Weeden of the Cleveland Browns, Nick Foles of the Philadelphia Eagles - and, in a peculiar twist, Kirk Cousins of the Redskins. Last week, the rookie from Michigan State replaced an injured RGIII and threw for 329 yards and two touchdowns in a 38-21 victory against the Cleveland Browns.

"This is a very special class that you don't see very often," Wilson told USA TODAY Sports.

But Tannehill points out: "It's a little early to start those comparisons" with the class of '83.

Nevertheless, this group has shredded standards of excellence among rookie passers for combined victories (39), passing yardage (18,220), completions (1,531) and touchdown passes (92) by first-year NFL quarterbacks. In all likelihood, four of them will ascend the 3,000-yard passing-yards plateau with Luck (3,978) and Weeden (3,281) leading the way, followed by Tannehill (2,929), Griffin (2,902) and Wilson (2,697).

Luck needs only 74 yards Sunday against the Kansas City Chiefs to set the single-season rookie record established by Cam Newton in 2011. If RGIII heaves two more touchdowns for a total of 20, he joins Wilson (21) and Luck (20) as the only rookie threesome to reach that milestone. Griffin, suffering from a knee injury, must first be cleared to play.

Kelly told USA TODAY Sports that he loves watching the young guys play and admires their talent and poise. He whimsically added: "But they've been trying to compare us (with other rookie classes) for, what, almost 30 years?

"The way I look at it is this: Compare us when these guys have been in the league for 12 to 15 years - then you can say something about it," Kelly said. "For now, it looks good on paper (because) they've started out well."

Then, in 2004, "It was Ben (Roethlisberger), Eli (Manning), Philip (Rivers), plus (Matt Schaub and J.P. Losman)," Kelly said. Roethlisberger and Manning each have won two Super Bowl rings . Schaub was a Pro Bowl player in 2009; Losman is out of the league.

"Hold all of your opinions for (several) years and we'll see what happens," Kelly said.

When told of Kelly's thoughts, Griffin replied: "I understand what he's saying. I'm not going to go there. " Griffin added it's too early to be compared to the greats. Redskins coach Mike Shanahan agreed: "You can't compare them to anybody until they do it over time."

So, is this season's rookie class an anomaly - or a harbinger?

There is no doubt that the intense preparation required for potential greatness at the position has shifted - namely the "sun up-to-sundown training we are doing," Cousins said.

As a boy, Marino, who quarterbacked the Dolphins for 17 seasons, never attended a passer's camp. Luck did - and was tutored by the guy he eventually replaced: Peyton Manning.

Advancements and refinements in training and nutrition, and sustained year-round emphasis on skill-building techniques that include seven-on-seven passing camps in their formative years, enable this generation of quarterbacks to hit the ground passing and running.

By the time they reach the NFL, the best of them feel less overwhelmed due to being "mentally trained at a higher level because of what they were asked to do in college," where a greater premium is placed on decision-making at the line of scrimmage, said Blackledge, now an ESPN college analyst.

Quarterback tutorials commence earlier than that, too.

"I started teaching my nephew (Clemson quarterback Chad Kelly) in the seventh grade about three-, five- and seven-step drops, and how to read defenses," Kelly said. "We didn't become (seriously) prepared until we got to college ."

In Tannehill's last two years of high school football in Big Spring, Texas, he operated the Wing-T offense and averaged less than 10 passes per game. But his mother made sure he enrolled in a seven-on-seven summer league.

Many high school and college coaches now deploy spread offenses. Greater familiarity with defensive schemes breeds a heightened learning curve once quarterbacks reach the pros. Meanwhile, the NFL aerial attack has grown in popularity because of pass-friendly rule changes.

"The difference is," Marino, now a CBS analyst, told USA TODAY Sports, "I see kids now in pee-wee and high school and everyone's in the shotgun throwing the football all over the place."

"In college, if I threw it 30 times a game, that was a lot - they're throwing it 30 times a half."

Technology also helped. Today's head-set communication in the NFL is a major plus in smoothly relaying plays from the sideline to the signal-caller. Furthermore, greater parity exists between teams, giving developing quarterbacks more of a chance at survival during their early days.

"The big difference is they're really protecting the quarterback," said O'Brien, a two-time Pro Bowler who was drafted 24th overall by the New York Jets and played 11 seasons for three teams. "You used to get hit right and left. The (penalty) flags didn't come out like they do now."

Blackledge was drafted seventh overall by the Chiefs and played from 1983-89, finishing his career in Pittsburgh. He said that the evolutionary nature of the position leaves young quarterbacks better prepared for the NFL.

"When our '83 class came out, the quarterbacks of that era were more defined by their ability to be drop-back passers who stood tall in the pocket and had a big arm," Blackledge said. " The ability to be mobile and extend plays - and in some cases run the football - is much more coveted by the NFL (today). "

Luck has commandeered the Colts to the most victories of any rookie quarterback drafted No. 1 overall in the Super Bowl era. More impressive are his six game-winning drives in the fourth quarter or overtime - most by any first-year signal-caller since at least 1970.

Meanwhile, with a glowing passer rating of 104.2, Griffin is ahead of pace to snap Roethlisberger's passer rating mark as a rookie (98.1).

While Luck and RGIII were the Nos. 1 and 2 overall draft choices last April, it is Wilson who has surprised the most. The third-round pick (75th overall) was a decorated player at Wisconsin, but his lack of size (5-11) was believed to be a deterrent.

But with a knack for scrambling improvisation, he has led the Seahawks to a perfect home record (6-0) posting 12 touchdowns, one interception and a 118.4 rating in those games.

"I've always believed that the separation is in the preparation," Wilson said. "It's the quest for knowledge."

"It's one of those anything-is-possible years," said Levy, an 87-year-old history buff with degrees from Coe College and Harvard. "I would guess you're not going to see it frequently. Or maybe not for a very long time."